A GREEN HORSE is a NATURAL, ECONOMICAL and ECO-FRIENDLY WAY to a HEALTHY HORSE: Horses of Military / War Labels: General , Horsen Around , Horses in History Perhaps the most famous warhorse remains disputed; nonetheless, according to legend The TROJAN HORSE became the instrument allowing access into the city of Troy, thus ultimately the Greek’s victory. The Achaeans fought an unsuccessful war with the people of Troy for ten years, usually dated to the 12th or 11th centuries BC. The Achaeans pondered on the thought, perhaps Troy could be seized by slyness instead of by force. Executing this thought, the construction of The Trojan Horse became the strategy of their victory. The Achaeans hid an armed military force inside the horse and left it in plain view of the Trojans. Simulating a retreat, the Achaeans enticed the Trojans to bring the horse within the walls of their city. The horse had a deceitful inscription: "For their return home, the Achaeans dedicate this thank-offering to Athena." Without the horse, most wars would have died within a very short time.

This blog is the first of a series dedicated to horses in history. We felt it appropriate to start here for without the valiant contributions of horses in military and war; man’s march through time would be much different. Horses were the most neglected among the many heroes of war serving by the billions, over the millennia in a variety of ways, large numbers suffered painfully and died in service. Life was not easy for the warhorse and was often ended by disease, starvation, severe injuries or being ridden to extreme exhaustion. Few received proper care, but the majority were mismanaged and cruelly mishandled. The severity of the work is not what killed them but the wretched conditions under which they did their work. Pulling heavy loaded wagons or riding one into battle, the utilization of horses in war changed as time passed. The first use of horses in warfare occurred over 5000 years ago. Images of those early horses pulling wagons in conflict with primitive equipment gave way to the impetus of the chariot. As history goes, new improved designs and tactics replaced the chariot with the cavalry. By 360 BC, the Greek cavalry officer Xenophon wrote an extensive paper on horsemanship.

In it, Xenophon details the selection, care, and training of horses for the use both in the military and for the public. This treatise along with numerous improvements in technology including the invention of the saddle, the stirrup, and later, the horse collar transformed the effectiveness of horses in battle. Good horses were always in demand by the military during warfare; riding horses were necessary for cavalry charges, scouting, raiding, communication, and drawing horses were needed for transportation of military supplies and heavy armor. The horse was deeply embedded in military life until after World War I when the method of warfare changed completely. The use of trench warfare, barbed wire, machine guns and tanks rendered traditional cavalry almost obsolete and the cavalry began to phase out. Some horse cavalry units were used extensively for the transport of troops and supplies in World War II, but by the end of the war, horses were rarely seen in battle. For a horse, the best thing man ever did was develop technology to the point that it no longer had to participate in war. They were the unfortunate servants of war; their suffering was extensive and without falter; their heroic performances proven by the immense numbers that have lost their lives throughout history.

Many warhorses had their names written upon the scrolls of history by their evident bravery, faithfulness and good judgment on the battlefields and some of them became almost as famous as the brave men who fought with them. Exposed to tedious marches and bullet-swept battlefields, yet somehow realizing their importance in the conflict continuing onward until the end. The horse has contributed to the success of man more than any other animal. Today, the horse in war has almost disappeared, but it remains connected to man’s world. From working on the farm to the leisurely trail ride, the horse and human interactions are rooted in cavalry skills and classical horsemanship of days gone by. The riding and training skills of today were once used by the military on the horses in history. HORSES in HISTORY Military / War After endless reading and viewing thousands of photos in archives, extensive information has been found on certain steeds, while hardly a trace exists for others. To a large degree, names of horses in the American Civil War were easier to obtain for the amount of data available, while horses of various other conflicts were vastly unspecified. As time passes, their identities will be lost forever and they will remain countless, nameless, everlasting, true, unsung heroes.

We Honor their Courage and Valor ALMOND EYE was the warhorse of Major General Benjamin F. Butler, nicknamed “Beast Butler” and together they rode into several battles of the American Civil War. Almond Eye acquired his name from the unusual shape of his eyes. BABIECA was the white Andalusia warhorse of Spanish hero, Ruy Diaz, better known as “El Cid”. Babieca was never ridden again after El Cid’s death in 1099. Babieca died 2 years later at the incredible age of 40. Allegedly, upon his death, El Cid left instructions for Babieca to be buried alongside him and his wife at the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña and that his body be secured on Babieca in full armor and with sword raised. The request was initially fulfilled but later the remains were exhumed from the monastery and then interred at the cathedral in Burgos where they rest today.

BAYARD was the mount for General Bosquet in the Crimean War fought between the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia against the opposing Russian Empire (1853 – 1856). The Crimean War was the first war to introduce technical changes affecting the future course of warfare; first war thoroughly documented in photographs and the first tactical use of railways and the telegraph. BEAUREGARD was the steed of James Russell Wheeler who left Union-held Baltimore under cover of darkness and joined the Confederate Calvary at Richmond, Virginia. Serving with Co. E of the 1st Maryland Calvary, he was captured twice in two years. Because of Wheeler’s capture, Beauregard became the property of his commander, Captain W. I. Rasin, who rode the horse to the surrender at Appomattox. Beauregard survived long after the war. He died in 1883. BIJOU, French for, “jewel”, was the horse of Count Johan Augustus Sandels, in the Finnish War (1808-1809).

The Count led the Swedish troops to victory against the Russian forces, at the Battle at Virta Bridge. BILL was the mount of Henry Jackson Hunt, Chief of Artillery in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. BILLY was the powerful and stout warhorse of Major General George Henry Thomas nicknamed, “Slow Trot Thomas”. Thomas was a hefty man weighing nearly two hundred pounds requiring a large steed capable of carrying him. Billy, named after Thomas’ friend, William T. Sherman, was a dark bay about 16 hands high. Billy was, like his owner, calm and measured in all his actions even in the turmoil of battle. Billy carried General Thomas in the march to Nashville, during the Civil War. His master defeated the Confederate arms in the winter of 1864. This was the last battle in which Thomas and Billy participated; it brought both to their death. BLACK BESS was the warhorse ridden by John Hunt Morgan. Morgan led 2,460 troops racing past Union lines into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio in July 1863. This campaign known as Morgan's Raid was the farthest north any uniformed Confederate troops infiltrated during the war. Captain H.

B. Clay possessed Morgan’s horses after Morgan died at the raid on Greeneville, Tennessee in 1864. Clay lived in Rogersville on Main Street and it was in Rogersville in 1864 when Brigadier General Alvin C. Gilliam attacked the town. While in Rogersville during the surprise raid, Sergeant J. H. Pharr, of Company A the 13th, captured a fine black horse belonging to Captain Clay; it was Black Bess. General Gilliam rode this horse throughout the campaign of East Tennessee. GLENCOE was another horse ridden by Morgan as was SIR OLIVER. Sir Oliver was said to have been a magnificent chestnut sorrel thoroughbred. BLACK HAWK was the favorite ride of Major General William B. Bate during the American Civil War. Bate was wounded three times and had six horses shot from beneath him throughout the war. BLACK JACK was a black Morgan-American Quarter Horse cross. He was foaled in 1947 and was the last of the Quartermaster issue horses. Named to honor General J.

(Black Jack) Pershing who is the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army—General of the Armies. Black Jack served a long and respectable military career. He was the riderless horse, with boots reversed in the stirrups, serving more than 1,000 Full Honor Funerals. He was a symbol of a fallen leader. Among the highlights of his career, he participated in four state funerals of presidents John F. Kennedy (1963), Herbert Hoover (1964), Lyndon B. Johnson (1973) as well as a Five-star general, Douglas MacArthur (1964). Black Jack died after a 29-year dedicated, dignified military career on February 6, 1976. He is one of few horses in United States history buried with Full Military Honors. Black Jack was cremated and his remains laid to rest in a plot at Fort Myer, Virginia. Blackjack's Burial Plaque - Photo Courtesy of Ron Williams BLACKIE belonged to Chief Sitting Bull.

The Chief was a Sioux holy man who led his people as a war chief during years of resistance to the United States. He was an expert horseback rider. With Federal permission, in 1885, Sitting Bull left the reservation to join Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. He earned about $50 a week for riding once around the arena, where he was a popular attraction. BOOMERANG had a tendency to move backward hence his name. Owned by the Colonel of the Twelfth Illinois Regiment, Colonel John McArthur who was a Union general during the American Civil War. McArthur became one of the ablest Federal commanders in the Western Theater. BROWN BEAUTY was ridden by Paul Revere during his famous midnight ride on April 18, 1775. Paul was employed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider hired to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions as far away as New York and Philadelphia. On the fateful night, Dr. Joseph Warren instructed Paul Revere to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them.

After crossing the Charles River to Charlestown, Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. This horse was Brown Beauty. One, if by land and two, if by sea; while in Charlestown, Revere verified that the "Sons of Liberty" had seen his pre-arranged signals. Two lanterns had been hung in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row "by sea" across the Charles River to Cambridge. Revere had arranged for these signals the previous weekend. On the way to Lexington, Revere notified the country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived in Lexington about midnight. William Dawes was another rider who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. A third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott joined them in Concord, Massachusetts. All three were arrested by a British patrol; two escaped while Revere was held for some time and then released. BRIGAND was a large black horse belonging to General William Mahone. During the American Civil War, he attained the rank of major general of the Confederate States Army.

Mahone is known for turning the tide of the Battle of the Crater against the Union advance during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. Because of Mahone’s stature, he was nicknamed “Little Billy”. His wife Otelia served as a nurse in Richmond, Virginia. BUCEPHALUS or BUCHEPHALAS was Alexander the Great's horse and one of the most famous real horses of ancient times. Legend has said Bucephalus was descended from the Mares of Diomed – see ... Horses of Legend, Myth and Folklore . Alexander the Great was an outstanding military leader of his age. Described as having a black coat with a large white star on his brow Bucephalus was a massive creature with a massive head. He was also supposed to have had a "wall", or blue eye, and his breeding was that of the best Thessalian strain. Bucephalus’ name means 'ox-head’, which they believe refers to the broad forehead and slightly concave profile that is characteristic of the local Thessalonian, strain. Philip of Macedon bought Bucephalus and the steed was so unruly no one could ride him.

Alexander noted that the horse was afraid of his own shadow and therefore rode him facing into the sun. As one of his chargers, Bucephalus served Alexander in numerous battles. Alexander rode Bucephalus for the last time in 327 BC (or 326BC) in the battle against the Indian King Porus, who they defeated at the Hydaspes River (now modern Pakistan). Bucephalus was 30 years old and died from his wounds at the end of the day. Buried with military honors the horse lies in Jalalpur Sharif outside of Jhelum, Pakistan. Alexander promptly founded a city, Bucephala, in honor of his horse. After the dynamic pair, it was all but expected of a conqueror to own a favorite horse. Statue of Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus, Thessaloniki, Greece BUCEPHALUS was the steed of Sterling Price who served in two wars, the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. BUTLER was Wade Hampton, III’s favorite horse. Hampton was a Confederate cavalry leader during the American Civil War. Another mount he rode was CAPTAIN.

CELER is a Roman name meaning "swift." This is the name of the horse of the Roman Emperor Verus. It was fed on almonds and raisins, covered with royal purple, and stalled in the imperial palace. Lucius Ceionius Commodus, the future Lucius Verus, was the son of Lucius Aelius Caesar. He was born December 15 A.D., 130. In 162 his brother, Emperor Marcus sent Lucius eastward to lead the Parthian campaign. In victory for Rome, Marcus shared the success with Lucius making him co-emperor. In between the wars Lucius participated in for Rome, Lucius Verus enjoyed life of self-indulgent pleasures of many kinds. One such pleasure was chariot racing. According to Lucius Verus, this was ranked above all other "sports”. VOLUCER, his favorite chariot horse, is buried on the Vatican Hill. CETAK or CHETAK was the warhorse of Rana Pratap Mewar in India. Pratap rode Chetak during the gruesome Battle of Haldighati, June 1576 in which Chetak died.

This warhorse was of Kathiawari or Marwari breed and a coat with a blue tinge. For this, Rana Pratap is sometime referred to as the Rider of the Blue Horse and both he and Chetak are forever immortalized in the ballads of Rajasthan. CHAMP was the favorite charger of Ambrose Powell Hill. General A.P. Hill was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He gained early fame as the commander of Hill's Light Division, becoming one of Stonewall Jackson's ablest subordinates. Killed in the Battle of Gettysburg; Sergeant Tucker possessed and rode Champ during the war. CHIEF the last U.S. Army cavalry horse, at the age of eight, was bought by the U.S. Army for the sum of $163, this purchase changed his life forever; he became a cavalry horse. In 1941, he reported for duty at Fort Riley, Kansas for military training. After a year, he rose to the rank of Advanced Cavalry Charger. Many young cavalry officers rode Chief and remarked on the wonderfully obedient mount. Chief served faithfully for eighteen years as a U.S.

Cavalry Charger and because of age in 1958 retired to a beautiful pasture at Ft. Riley. In the 1950s and 1960s, all the remaining retired cavalry mounts passed on leaving Chief as the last. Entertaining hundreds of visitors at the Ft. Riley Riding Club each year, Chief represented the millions of dedicated cavalry mounts who served and died before him. Buried on the parade grounds at Fort Riley, Kansas with a military funeral and full honors Chief’s death came at the age of thirty-six on May 24, 1968. Honoring the duties, courage and devotion these horses performed faithfully, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army was in attendance. A marble vault constructed by the Post Engineers allowed Chief’s body to stand upright interred ready to ride again. Buried at the foot of the "Old Trooper" statue lies a plaque of Chief’s final resting place. CHIEFTAIN was the horse belonging to the Confederate General Daniel Harvey Hill. He was brother-in-law to Stonewall Jackson and referred to as “Little General”.

With his legs severely shot by a Union soldier, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Chieftain died shortly after. CHARLEMAGNE was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s Horse. Chamberlain was given the honor of commanding the Union troops at the surrender ceremony for the infantry of Robert E. Lee's Army at Appomattox, Virginia. CINCINNATI was General Ulysses S. Grant's most famous horse during the American Civil War. He was the son of Lexington, the fastest four-mile thoroughbred in the United States and the most successful sire during the second half of the nineteenth century. Cincinnati was also the grandson of the great Boston, who sired Lexington. At an early age, Grant emotionally bonded to horses. Grant was an excellent horseman and owned many horses in his lifetime. Cincinnati was a gift during the Civil War and he stood at 17 hands. Handsome and powerful, he quickly became Grant's favorite. After the battle of Chattanooga, General Grant went to St. Louis to recover from contracting dysentery (disease of the lower intestine) during the siege of Vicksburg. During this time, General Grant received a letter from an “S.S.

Grant”, requesting the General’s visit for he had something important to say which might be gratifying to hear. With the initials identical of a deceased Uncle, the General’s curiosity created excitement and Grant obliged the offer. Upon General Grant’s arrival, S.S. Grant uttered he had the finest horse in the world. He knew of General Grant's great liking for horses and wanted to give his horse to him with conditions. He desired the horse be in a good home with tender care, no ill-treatment and never fall into the hands of such. This promise was given and General Grant accepted the horse. He called him Cincinnati. Grant rarely permitted anyone to mount the horse but there were two exceptions, Admiral Daniel Ammen and President Lincoln. With Cincinnati’s remarkable bloodlines, the grandson of Boston, the son of Lexington and a half-brother to Kentucky, many offers of money for the magnificent horse were refused by Grant, some as much as $10,000. Cincinnati remained Grant’s battle charger until the end of the war. Grant rode Cincinnati to negotiate Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the horse became immortalized.

Grant went on to become the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. Cincinnati, JEFF DAVIS and EGYPT all lived to enter the White House stables when Grant became president in 1869. Albert Hawkins was in charge of those stables at the time. Cincinnati died at his retirement facility, Admiral Ammen's farm in Maryland, in 1878. Grant’s other war horses: DYNAMITE EGYPT was a remarkably beautiful horse seen by some people in Illinois, purchased by them and sent to Grant as a present, in January 1864. Cold Harbor, Virginia. U.S. Grant's horses: on left, EGYPT, center, CINCINNATI, right, JEFF DAVIS 1864 June 14. FOX was a horse that Grant purchased for field service. He was a roan color, very powerful and spirited horse and of great endurance. Grant road Fox during the siege and battles around Fort Donelson and at Shiloh. JACK a gift to Grant while marching from Springfield, Illinois, to Missouri.

Camping on the Illinois River for several days a farmer brought in a horse called Jack. The horse was a cream-colored stallion with black eyes, mane, and a tail of silver white. His coat gradually became darker toward his feet. He was noble, high spirited, very intelligent and excellent in every way. Grant used him until after the battle of Chattanooga November 1863, as an extra horse and for parades and ceremonial occasions. At the 1863 Sanitary Fair in Chicago, General Grant gave him to the fair and bringing $4,000 to the Sanitary Commission for wounded soldiers from a raffle. JEFF DAVIS, another wartime mount captured during the campaign and siege of Vicksburg. A cavalry raid or scouting party arrived at Joe Davis' plantation, the brother of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. The raid participants captured a black pony led it to the rear of the city and presented it to Grant. The horse badly worn reached headquarters with an eye of Grant’s upon it. With care, Jeff Davis began to pick up and soon carried himself in fine shape. Grant kept him until he died, which was long after the Civil War. KANGAROO caught the eye of Grant.

The Confederates left behind the horse on the battlefield, after the Shiloh battle. He was in poor condition rawboned and worn out. Jokingly, the officer who found the horse sent it with his compliments to Colonel C.B. Lagow, one of Grant’s aid-de-Camps and Acting Inspector General, a man of means who always kept an excellent mount. When Grant saw the horse, he told the Colonel that the horse was a thoroughbred and a valuable mount. He asked Lagow, if he did not wish to keep the horse, he would be glad to have him. After Grant’s possession and within a short period of rest, feeding and care Kangaroo turned out to be a magnificent animal. Grant used him during the Vicksburg campaign. The horse was named Kangaroo because of his original appearance. METHUSELAH was a white horse and Grant’s first horse on re-entering the Army in 1861. At that time, Colonel Grant rode into Springfield, Illinois and was astride Methuselah. RONDY was the mount Grant rode into his first battle. BUTCHER BOY was a horse Grant purchased when he was president. Grant with his son went on a ride one afternoon.

With Grant running fast on his horse, a butcher's delivery wagon drew up and passed them. A bit up the road, it stopped to make a delivery. Soon, it caught up with Grant again and despite all Grant's effort; it passed a second time. Grant read the owner's name on the wagon and the following day he bought the horse pulling the wagon. The animal became a great favorite of Grants and he named him Butcher Boy. President Grant's farm near St. Louis, Missouri, The old Dent homestead depicting ruins of former residence and the main stable. c. 1875 Dick Turpin - Highwaymen and Highway Robbery Dick Turpin "The Spurious Highwayman" Dick Turpin is probably the most famous highwayman of all. Mention the name to most people, and they will tell you he was a daring and dashing highwayman who famously rode from London to York on his faithful mare, Black Bess, in less than 24 hours. However, the popular Turpin legend contains not a grain of truth.

In reality, Turpin's fictitious great ride was made by 17th-century highwayman John 'Swift Nick' Nevison , who early one morning in 1676 robbed a homeward-bound sailor on the road outside Gads Hill, Kent. Deciding he needed to establish an alibi, Nevison set off on a ride that took him more than 190 miles in about 15 hours. In addition, it was only at the very end of his life, while waiting to be hanged at York racecourse, that Turpin exhibited any of the swaggering nonchalance, heroism, or derring-do usually attributed to him. Prior to that, both his existence and his criminal ventures had been squalid, to say the least.ï¿½ The Essex Gang Dick Turpin was born in 1706 in rural Essex, the son of John Turpin, a small farmer and some-time keeper of the Crown Inn. Some biographers say he was born in Thackstead, others name Hempstead. Young Dick probably served an apprenticeship with a butcher in Whitechapel- in those days, a village on the fringes of the capital.

During his apprenticeship he "conducted himself in a loose and disorderly manner." When his apprenticeship was over, he opened a butcher shop, and began to steal sheep, lamb and cattle. Caught in the act of stealing two oxen, he fled into the depths of the Essex countryside to save himself. After resurfacing, he tried his hand at smuggling, but proved as inept at this venture as he had at cattle rustling. Before long customs agents compelled Turpin and his gang to lay low. Many people think of Dick Turpin as a lone highwayman, however for the majority of his criminal career he was a member of the Essex Gang (also known as the Gregory Gang). Members of Turpin's gang are known to have included: Thomas Barnfield, Mary Brazier, John Fielder, Jasper Gregory, Jeremy Gregory, Samual Gregory, Herbert Haines, John Jones, James Parkinson, Joseph Rose, Thomas Rowden, Ned Rust, William Saunders, Richard Turpin, Humphry Walker, and John Wheeler.

There may have been other members who were either not identified or who were only occasional associates of the Gang.ï¿½ Turpin and his gang invaded isolated farmhouses, terrorizing and torturing the female occupants into giving up their valuables. A typical attack took place at Loughton, in Essex, where Turpin heard of an old widow woman rumoured to keep at least ï¿½700 in the house. When the woman gamely resisted all of Turpin's efforts to discover the money's hiding place, he hoisted her into the open fire until she gave up her treasure. Robbing remote farmhouses was the Gang's speciality, and it was only towards the end of his criminal career that Turpin was actually involved in highway robbery. Flushed with success-and money-Turpin and his mates proceeded to rob their way around the Home Counties, frequently employing torture as a weapon of persuasion. By 1735, the London Evening Post regularly reported the exploits of Turpin and 'The Essex Gang' and the King had offered a reward of ï¿½50 for their capture.

Eventually, local constables captured two of the gang, Turpin himself narrowly missing capture by bursting out a window.ï¿½ Epping Forest Turpin headed back into the familiar East Anglian countryside and lived rough for some time., until he began working with 'Captain' Tom King, one of the best-known highwaymen of the day and the kind of swashbuckling, devil-may-care character into which legend would later transform Turpin. From a cave in Epping Forest from which they could watch the road without being seen, they robbed virtually anyone who passed their hiding place. Even local peddlers started to carry weapons for protection. By 1737, Turpin had achieved such notoriety that another bounty of ï¿½100 was placed on his head- a reward that unwittingly transformed him from a common footpad into a murderer. On 4th May, 1737, a gamekeeper named Morris tracked Turpin to Epping Forest, but when he challenged him at gunpoint, Turpin drew his own gun and shot Morris dead. The fugitive's next exploit was nothing less than bizarre.

One night, while on the road to London, he took a fancy to a particularly fine horse ridden by a man called Major and forced him to exchange it for his own jaded mount. Mr. Major didn't take the loss lying down. He issued handbills around the pubs of London, describing the horse and naming Turpin as the thief. The horse was traced to the Red Lion pub in Whitechapel, where Turpin had stabled it. When Tom King came to collect the horse, he was arrested. Turpin, who had been waiting nearby, rode toward the constables holding King and fired at them. Unfortunately, he was a dreadful shot, and the bullets hit King rather than his captors.ï¿½ The End of the Road Before he died, King provided the constables with sufficient information to force Turpin to again live rough in Epping Forest. Realizing that he could not long escape capture if he remained in the London area, Turpin set off for Yorkshire., where he settled under the name of John Palmer, financing his fancy lifestyle with frequent excursions into Lincolnshire for more horse and cattle rustling and the occasional highway robbery. One day, returning from an unsuccessful hunt he shot his landlord's rooster.

When the landlord complained he threatened to kill the landlord as well. He was taken into custody while local authorities made enquiries as to how exactly 'Mr. Palmer' made his money, and inevitably the constables learned of several outstanding complaints made against 'John Palmer' for sheep and horse stealing in Lincolnshire. Turpin waited in the dungeons of York Castle while these charges were investigated, but even then things might not have gone too badly for him if he hadn't written a letter to his brother, requesting him to 'procure an evidence from London that could give me a character that would go a great way towards my being acquitted.'ï¿½ Unfortunately for Turpin, his brother was too mean to pay the sixpence postage due and so returned the letter to the Post Office. There, by a great coincidence, Turpin's former schoolmaster, Mr. Smith, saw it and recognized the handwriting. He took the letter to the local magistrate and, with his permission, opened it. Despite the fact that it was signed John Palmer, Smith identified the writer as Turpin. Smith was subsequently dispatched to York to make positive identification; which he did.ï¿½ Convicted on two indictments, Turpin was sentenced to death.

Pleas from his father to have the sentence commuted to transportation fell on deaf ears. Between his sentence and execution, visitors frequented Turpin's cell. He bought new clothes and shoes and hired five mourners for 10 shillings each. On 7th April, 1739, Dick Turpin rode through the streets of York in an open cart, bowing to the gawking crowds. At York racecourse he climbed the ladder to the gibbet and then sat for half an hour chatting to the guards and the executioner. An account in the York Courant of Turpin's execution, notes his brashness even at the end, "with undaunted courage looked about him, and after speaking a few words to the topsman, he threw himself off the ladder and expired in about five minutes." Thus in death at least, Turpin attained some of the gallantry that had eluded him in life.

"Rookwood": The Birth of a Legend The spurious legend of Dick Turpin was established in 1739 with the book Life of Richard Turpin, and sealed with the novel Rookwood (1834) by Harrison Ainsworth in which the highwayman 'Dauntless Dick Turpin' with his horse Black Bess is a secondary character. Ainsworth's description of an epic ride from Westminster to York caught the popular imagination and turned a fairly average pot-boiler into a runaway best-seller. During the next 50 years, replays of the Turpin story, as told by Ainsworth, appeared in magazines, cheap novels, and ballads, not just in Great Britain but around the world. History, romance, and legend rapidly blurred and, eventually, the fictional ride of Ainsworth's Turpin totally eclipsed the villain's real exploits. The metamorphosis of Dick Turpin, house-breaker, torturer, murderer, horse-stealer and all-round real nasty piece of work into Dick Turpin, Highwayman and Knight of the Road was complete. Dick Turpin: History of York History of York The myth of Dick Turpin. The myth of Dick Turpin.

The Prison building - Turpin will have used this Exercise Yard. Turpin as potrayed in the cell where he spent his final days - York Castle Museum Corridor leading to the Turpin cell in York Castle Museum He wasn’t from York, he wasn’t the dashing outlaw of legend and he didn’t own a horse called Black Bess. But Dick Turpin was tried and executed in the city and his grave can be seen in an otherwise unremarkable graveyard. Born in Essex, Turpin was a member of the violent Gregory Gang, becoming a highwayman when they split up. Having shot and killed a man who attempted to capture him he fled to Yorkshire. He stole horses in Lincolnshire and returned with them to Brough to sell, a trade which was exposed while he was in Beverley House of Correction having shot his landlord’s cockerel. He gave his name as John Palmer. He was moved to York Castle, from where he wrote to his brother asking for help. His brother refused to pay the sixpence due on the letter and it was returned to the local post office – where Turpin’s old schoolmaster recognised his handwriting. His identity was revealed and he was sentenced to death.

At his hanging at Tyburn, Turpin hired five professional mourners to follow him up the scaffold and he put on a show for the large crowd. His body was dug up by a labourer and taken to the garden of a surgeon, who paid for corpses for illegal medical dissection. But York people discovered what had happened and descended in an angry mob on the surgeon’s house, and Turpin was laid to rest for good. The doctor and the labourer were arrested and fined. Turpin became a legend after his death. His story became linked in print with a legendary ride from London to York to establish an alibi, a tale previously attributed to the highwayman William Nevison. This fictional version was further established when it was included in an 1834 bestseller called Rockwood, in which the author Harrison Ainsworth added a new twist: that Turpin’s horse, Black Bess, expired at York after the record-breaking ride. None of this was true.

Resources Dick Turpin's Famous Ride from London to York Dick Turpin's Famous Ride from London to York in 1735 Dick Turpin is probably the most legendary highwayman of all time, and his rapid flight from London to York is the most famous part of this legend. Mention the name of Turpin to most people, and they will tell you he was a daring and dashing rogue who famously rode this trip of two hundred miles on his faithful mare, Black Bess, in less than fifteen hours. In so doing, Turpin actually got to York before news of his misdemeanours in London. Tests on horses that specialise in endurance events have shown that this would not have been possible. Various inns that still stand along the original route of the A1 (at the time called the Great North Road, the main road connecting the north of England to the south), such as the Roebuck Inn, Stevenage, claim that Turpin ate his lunch there that night, or stopped off there for a brief respite for his horse. If he had really stopped at every inn that makes such claims then he wouldn't have had time to ride anywhere. (From Wikipedia .) Yet the legend persists, as the following stories show.

Dick Turpin and Osbaldestone - the New York Times, 15 January 1893 Foremost among English feats of horsemanship we have one which for generations has been represented in the circus ring. Dick Turpin's famous ride from London York has taken its place among nursery legends; nevertheless, it was actually performed, and stands as a record of its kind. The highwayman, riding with the very best reason in the world - the safety of his neck - covered the distance of 200 miles in a little under twelve hours. This performance stands alone as the longest and fastest journey ever made on the same horse. Most of the long rides of which record exists have been made for wagers; such records are therefore reliable. Squire Osbaldestone's undertaking to ride 200 miles in ten hours, which he accomplished so successfully on the 5th of November, 1831, is one of the most remarkable feats of endurance in the saddle, and has the merit of freedom from cruelty. The Squire rode his race on the Newmarket race course, changing his horse every fourth mile. Four miles is a safe limit for such a purpose, as that splendid horseman knew.

Three-mile laps could have been covered in time relatively a little better, but a sound horse in fair training could do his four miles without distress in such time as to make that distance, with the consequent reduction in the number of changes, the most suitable for the purpose. Mr. Osbaldestone used sixteen horses for his task, and rode standing in his stirrups like a jockey, while he kept his mount at best speed from start to finish of its four-mile heat, having quite a "set-to" with his pacemaker at the end of each. The Squire was a hard man, and in good training, so suffered no bad effects from his exertions. The New York Times, 18 September 1910 A reader writes, "A Western friend of mine tells me that cowboys have been known to ride as far as 300 miles on a single horse in twenty-four hours. Now, it strikes me that that would be "some runnin'." Even Dick Turpin didn't come up to this mark.

Have we any records to substantiate the claims of my Western friend?" The Times is not in possession of any records to prove the greatest distance covered by a horseman on the same horse in twenty-four hours, but from time to time reports have come from the wide West telling of fabulous rides made by cowboys. How much truth may be in them cannot be said. One cowboy is said to have covered a distance of 200 miles on a pinto in twenty-four hours, but we have no proof that this is true, and the fact remains that it would seem to be rather beyond the endurance of even a "Black Bess" such as the notorious Turpin bestrode. Turpin, we are told, rode his famous mare to York, 150 miles, in a single day, and it is a source of no little satisfaction to know that the notorious English criminal was properly hanged for his deeds. He should have been hanged for the ride on "Black Bess," if for no other reason. The ride is not mentioned in the Newgate [prison] records, and the story in its original form is attributed to Maginn, although it is graphically described in Ainsworth's "Rookwood.

" Dick Turpin - The Legendary Highwayman and his horse Black Bess Dick Turpin Dick Turpin, much-romanticised through legend, was in fact an infamous highwayman, murderer and convicted horse-thief. He was tried and executed in York, assuring his place in English history and being forever linked with the city. The Only Way is Essex Richard ‘Dick’ Turpin was born in 1705 in Hempstead, Essex. His father John was an innkeeper and a butcher; Turpin became an apprentice butcher. He married at twenty and five years later, then with his own butcher’s shop, he aided the prolific deer-poaching Gregory Gang, disposing of carcasses. Landlord in Gangland London By 1734 Turpin had become landlord of a pub at Clay Hill. His association with the gang was such that he joined them in brutal attacks and robberies in the outer London area. In 1735 after three gang members were arrested the youngest betrayed his fellows, Turpin being named by The London Gazette. Foolishly Turpin and the gang immediately committed further shocking assaults in the Essex area with three more gang members arrested and executed at Tyburn on 10 March.

Turpin was named on the indictments for burglary. Dick Turpin’s Grave lies in St. George’s Graveyard in a mainly residential part of York Wanted Man Turning to highway robbery from April 1735, he plagued Epping Forest, Southwark and other London areas. On 10 July, identified and named as ‘Turpin the butcher’, along with Thomas Rowden with a bounty of £100 on their heads, the duo’s crimes continued throughout 1735. Next referred to in February 1737 Turpin reportedly spent the night at Puckeridge with his wife, her maid and another man. Turpin’s letter arranging the meeting (for horse stealing) was intercepted by the authorities. Turpin escaped while the others were arrested and imprisoned. Undeterred Highwayman The following month Turpin took up with highwaymen Matthew King and Stephen Potter, committing a series of robberies, culminating in an incident at Whitechapel when either King or Turpin stole a horse near Waltham Forest. Joseph Major, along with Richard Bayes, identified his animal, found tethered at The Red Lion, Whitechapel, and waited, along with the local constable, for the ‘owner’.

King’s brother eventually arrived leading them to his brother Matthew who received serious, but possibly accidental, gunshot wounds, dying the following month. Reports varied, stating Turpin or Bayes had shot King. Turpin fled into Epping Forest and on being spotted by Thomas Morris, who was armed, shot and killed him on 4 May with a carbine. ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’ named Turpin as the suspect – a £200 reward was offered. Turpin a.k.a John Palmer comes to Yorkshire In June 1737, Turpin, under the alias John Palmer, lodged in Brough , East Yorkshire, posing as a horse trader. He regularly crossed the Humber committing crimes, stealing a horse from Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, and riding it to his father’s at Hempstead. Leaving the horse behind, implicating his father who was subsequently committed to gaol, Turpin returned to Brough having stolen three more horses from a Thomas Creasy. Creasy finally tracked down and recovered his horses in autumn 1738, thefts for which Turpin was eventually tried.

His gravestone is the only one in the yard upstanding from the ground (top left) Locked up in York Castle After a minor incident in October 1738 Turpin threatened to shoot someone; three JPs attended and committed Turpin to the House of Correction at Beverley . The JPs’ suspicions of ‘Palmer’s’ lifestyle proved right when JPs from Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, confirmed Palmer was known there as a sheep-thief and suspected horse-thief who had evaded custody. Turpin was consequently transferred to York Castle on 16 October 1738, for the Assizes. Turpin’s final undoing came when his intercepted letter to his brother-in-law revealed his handwriting to James Smith who had taught Turpin to write. Smith travelled to York Castle identifying Turpin on 23 February 1739 and received the £200 reward originally offered following Morris’s murder. Found Guilty On 22 March York Assizes declared Turpin guilty on two charges of horse theft, passing the death sentence. Turpin bought a new frock coat and shoes, and hired five paid mourners.

On 7 April 1739 Turpin and John Stead (also a horse-thief) were paraded through York by open cart to Knavesmire, York’s equivalent of London’s Tyburn. Following the hanging, by a pardoned fellow highwayman, Turpin’s body was taken to an inn in Castlegate and buried next day in the graveyard of St George’s Church, Fishergate. It was shortly reportedly as stolen; however, the body-snatchers together with Turpin’s corpse were soon apprehended. The body was reburied, possibly with quicklime, and is alleged to lie in St George’s graveyard. Black Bess and the Legendary Journey to York In legend, Dick Turpin and Black Bess, his faithful mare, are synonymous for their supposed 200-mile ride from London to York, a tale originating in Rookwood (1834), a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth. It was in fact highwayman John ‘Swift Nick’ Nevison who, in 1676, after committing a robbery in Kent and urgently needing an alibi set off on the ride of his life reaching York in around 15 hours.

Through folklore Turpin’s violent character has become that of a romantic and dashing highwayman. Related posts: sadie · July 4, 2014 on 4:04 pm ridiculous they killed him by hanging him Bob · May 6, 2015 on 9:51 am No it’s not, he deserved it, he was evil sadie, killing loads of people. JAKE · June 23, 2015 on 7:22 pm i know we been leaning about highwaymen JAKE · June 23, 2015 on 7:23 pm i leaned i lot from this so its epic Paul · July 4, 2015 on 11:58 pm Yes it’s true he was a baddie and got what he deserved really I guess. Black Bess | Article about Black Bess by The Free Dictionary Black Bess | Article about Black Bess by The Free Dictionary Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: horse References in classic literature ?

For them stage-coaches will have become romances--a team of four bays as fabulous as Bucephalus or Black Bess. Horse burger outrage is just soppy sentiment And I followed that up with a Black Bess, from York Brewery, a rich and smoky stout perfectly suited to a hobbit wanderer on a winter's day. It's a taste of Middle Earth but in Wirral; Your Pub Alistair Houghton has a pint in The White Lion, West Kirby And not too far away, just outside the city walls is his grave, so large that it was rumoured his horse Black Bess was in there too. On the trail of Dick Turpin; He was England's most infamous outlaw, but his tale came to an end in York. EDWARD STEPHENS gets s a taste of the city's colourful history In a bid to evade punishment for one particular bit of extreme naughtiness, Turpin purloined a horse called Black Bess and fled from London to York, where he changed his name to John Palmer.

Question: Which famous person in history rode a horse called Black Bess?
Answer: Dick Turpin